Not without surprises: the first round of the Challengers Stage on BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023

The BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Challengers Stage Long Convergence Round has concluded, with FaZe Clan, paiN Gaming, G2 Esports, Complexity Gaming, Grayhound Gaming, Apeks, ENCE and Ninjas in Pyjamas all picking up their first wins.

In turn, Monte, Fluxo, TheMongolz, GamerLegion, FORZE, Team Liquid, OG and MOUZ failed miserably in the championship, falling to the 0-1 basket.

First round of the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Challengers Stage

FaZe Clan managed to snatch victory from Monte (16:14) on the Ancient map in the first game of the matches, while paiN Gaming scored a resounding derby victory over Fluxo (16:2) on the Mirage map.

The G2 Esports and Complexity Gaming teams then defeated TheMongolz and GamerLegion by the same score of 16:11 on the same map Inferno.

Immediately afterwards, the main first round sensations happened as the Australians from Grayhound Gaming gave a strong comeback against FORZE (16:14) on Mirage, while Apeks unexpectedly outplayed Team Liquid (16:12) on Ancient.

In the end of the first round ENCE got a convincing win over OG (16-6) on Anubis, while Ninjas in Pyjamas handled MOUZ (16-9) on Mirage.

BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Challengers Stage first-round results:

• FaZe Clan (16 - 14) Monte
• paiN Gaming (16 - 2) Fluxo
• G2 Esports (16 - 11) TheMongolz
• Complexity Gaming (16 - 11) GamerLegion
• Grayhound Gaming (16 - 14) FORZE
• Apeks (16 - 12) Team Liquid
• ENCE (16 - 6) OG
• Ninjas in Pyjamas (16 - 9) MOUZ

BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Challengers Stage Intermediate Standings

Team

Score

Round number

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

1

paiN Gaming

1-0

16-2

16:5

-

-

-

-

2

G2 Esports

1-0

16-11

16:9

-

-

-

-

3

Apeks

1-0

16-12

16:9

-

-

-

-

4

Ninjas in Pyjamas

1-0

16-9

19:16

-

-

-

-

5

ENCE

1-0

16-6

16:3

-

-

-

-

6

Grayhound Gaming

1-0

16-14

16:6

-

-

-

-

7

Complexity Gaming

1-0

16:11

16:6

-

-

-

-

8

FaZe Clan

1-0

16-14

16:14

-

-

-

-

9

Monte

0-1

14-16

14:16

-

-

-

-

10

GamerLegion

0-1

11-16

11:16

-

-

-

-

11

FORZE

0-1

14-16

14:16

-

-

-

-

12

OG

0-1

6-16

6:16

-

-

-

-

13

MOUZ

0-1

9-16

9:16

-

-

-

-

14

Team Liquid

0-1

12-16

12:16

-

-

-

-

15

TheMongolz

0-1

11-16

11:16

-

-

-

-

16

Fluxo

0-1

2-16

2:16

-

-

-

-

The BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 takes place from 8-21 May at the Accor Arena in France. The championship sees 24 competitors from the CIS, Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Oceania competing for a combined prize pool of $1,250,000 and berths to IEM Cologne 2023 and the BLAST Premier World Final 2023.